Polar vortex causes a first: Wendella Boats delays season

Add this to the list of Chicago traditions the polar vortex has affected: Wendella Boats announced today that it will delay the start of its season for the first time in its 80-year history "because of bitterly cold weather."

The "Wendella fleet," company President Michael Borgstrom said in a statement, "is stuck in our shipyard on the Calumet River on the Far South Side surrounded by ice that is up to 20 inches thick."

"In addition, Lake Michigan is iced over, making our annual trip from the shipyard an impossibility," he said.

Wendella was scheduled to start March 14; the new date is April 4. (Let's cross our fingers the cold weather is gone by then.)